The toughest issues facing newspapers today are front and center on the agenda of this year's SNPA News Industry Summit (SNPA's annual meeting).

Our presenters will be talking about countering the assault on journalism and media credibility, and building trust with your audience. They will be sharing critical concerns over not getting paid for content on digital platforms – a challenge the managing partner of Methuselah Advisors says could threaten the survival of many daily papers. Hear about the Fair Use Collective, which is serving as a negotiating intermediary between publishers and digital platform enterprises.

If you aren't in Nashville, Oct. 10-12, you'll also miss discussions about:

Opportunities and growth strategies

Foundations of success in sales and sales management

The transformation roadmap and becoming a transformation leader

Lessons learned by a digital agency

Best ideas from SNPA's Publisher-to-Publisher video conferences

And lots more!

There are topics for publishers, general managers, digital and advertising directors, newsroom leaders and other key leaders throughout your paper.

Hotel Rooms The News Industry Summit will be held at the Nashville Hilton. The SNPA room block at the Hilton has been released, but the hotel might have rooms available at its standard pricing. To check availability, call the hotel at (615) 620-1000 (Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or dial 1-800-HILTONS.

There are many hotels in and around downtown Nashville. To shop for the best available rate, check your favorite travel website like hotels.com and Travelocity.com

The newspaper industry's practice of permitting digital platforms such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and others to exploit content created by publishers without compulsory or use-based compensation must change, says John Chachas, managing partner of Methuselah Advisors, a merger advisory firm specializing in serving media, digital and other industrial clients.

In a hard-hitting presentation at next month's SNPA News Industry Summit. Chachas will talk about his firm's evaluation of the economic model of the publishing industry. "Absent a major re-definition of the relationship between publishers and digital companies, the survival of many daily papers will be at risk," he says. Publishers of all SNPA member newspapers need to hear this presentation.

In today's highly divisive political environment, the media and its credibility have become the news. Reporters and media outlets are under attack from all sides – the public, companies, social media, even the nation's highest office. How can local newspapers convince their audience to click and read when they're constantly warned of "fake news"?

During next month's SNPA News Industry Summit in Nashville, Tara Deering Hansen, principal of Sonder Public Relations, will discuss the importance of local newspapers developing a public relations strategy to strengthen trust and credibility in their communities. Like any reputable company, newspapers must know and own their brand.

Dozens of entrepreneurs have opened budding new businesses – and many others are thinking of doing so. Some start by working in their living rooms or garages. Others work at the recently opened 1717 Innovation Center in Richmond's Shockoe Bottom, which has become a gateway for the entrepreneurial community.

Business incubators such as Startup Virginia or Lighthouse Labs provide the mentorship to help these new companies. UnBoundRVA is guiding future entrepreneurs from low-income communities. Startups can get help from organizations in the area such as SCORE, a network of retired business executives who mentor budding entrepreneurs.

Organizations hold meetings to educate and connect entrepreneurs so they and others can learn about the challenges of starting a business and sharing ideas. Local universities have increased enrollment in entrepreneurship classes.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has been writing about this growing entrepreneurial ecosystem for years, from articles about some of these startup businesses and the funding that local angel investors provide to the challenges that the startup founders face.

Now, The Times-Dispatch is expanding coverage with the Richmond Startup Spotlight e-newsletter every Sunday morning.

Sarasota Herald-Tribune Executive Editor Matthew Sauer is adding the title general manager and assuming a new role at the media company.

Sauer will continue to oversee the Herald-Tribune's newsroom but will now work with the media company's seasoned team of executives to continue its mission as the top information source and digital and print advertising platform in Southwest Florida.

Influential leaders from diverse backgrounds across the State of Florida along with readers of McClatchy's Florida newsrooms – the Miami Herald, Bradenton Herald, el Nuevo Herald – and Sayfie Review, will hash out solutions to tough policy issues with a shared goal of building a better Florida at the Florida Priorities Summit on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the University of Miami.

Lakeway Publishers has sold the Osceola News-Gazette (Kissimmee, Fla.) to American Hometown Publishing, according to Randy Cope and Gary Greene of Cribb, Greene & Cope, who represented Lakeway Publishers in the transaction.

On Aug. 1, the National Labor Relations Board invited interested parties to file briefs on whether the board should adhere to, modify or overrule Purple Communications – a case (decided by the Obama Board) that held employees who had been given access to their employer's email system for work-related purposes have a presumptive right to use that system, on non-working time, for communications protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (union organizing activity).

Senior Reporter, The Northeast Georgian, Cornelia, Ga. The Northeast Georgian, a twice-weekly newspaper serving the mountain community of Habersham County, is now hiring for a senior reporter. Learn more and submit your resume

Pressroom Manager, The Index-Journal, Greenwood, S.C. The Index-Journal Company, a family-owned daily newspaper celebrating 100 years of business in Greenwood, S.C., is seeking an experienced Pressroom Manager. This is a full-time, salaried position with day and nighttime hours. Learn more and submit your resume

Finance Director FP&A, Coastal Publishing Group, GateHouse Media, Jacksonville, Fla.The Financial Planning and Analysis Finance Director will provide financial planning and analysis functions at multiple locations within the Coastal Publishing Group of GateHouse Media (GHM). This position will support the Daytona, Gainesville, Ocala and Leesburg, Fla., locations and will work out of the Jacksonville, Fla., office for GHM. Learn more and submit your resume

Regional Advertising Director, The Kokomo Tribune and Logansport Pharos-Tribune, Indiana The Kokomo (Indiana) Tribune and its sister newspaper, the Logansport (Indiana) Pharos-Tribune, seek an accomplished advertising director to lead its regional print and digital sales teams. Learn more and submit your resume

This webinar will describe the 10 attributes and activities that leading advertising executives possess and perform on a consistent basis. Before the session, take the challenge! Prepare a list of your top 10 and compare them to the shared traits. SNPA members can register at no cost for this Sept. 27 webinar.

About a month before the Texas Tribune launched in 2009, media reporter Jack Shafer wrote a piece for Slate delineating the numerous problems inherent in nonprofit journalism – namely, that nonprofits lose money on purpose, and thus, have to take handouts, which, Shafer says, "come with conditions." Shafer, who then blithely referred to CEO Evan Smith as "picking the pocket" of venture capitalist John Thornton, also spelled out that audience development is always secondary to advocacy in this sort of business model:

"Commercial outlets may reflect their owners' views, but this tendency is always tempered by the need to attract readers and viewers. Nonprofit outlets almost always measure their success in terms of influence, not audience, because their customers are the donors who've donated cash to influence politics, promote justice, or otherwise build a better world."

Of course, the Texas Tribune's base, composed of members scattered across the state and beyond, also includes deep-pocketed professional philanthropists. But just as the Tribune has evolved from a niche publication for hardcore policy wonks to a mainstream, establishment publication, its lofty goals for influence and audience aren't at odds with each other; they're inextricably linked.

The Charlotte Observer has launched Sports Pass, a sports-only digital subscription for everyone who wants to stay engaged and up-to-date on every major sports team – not just in Charlotte, but throughout the Carolinas.

For $30 a year, Sports Pass is your golden ticket to unlimited digital access to every single sports story the Observer publishes on CharlotteObserver.com.

That includes access to most sports stories published by the other six McClatchy newspapers throughout the Carolinas.

Coming out of the 2016 presidential election year, covering politics in the media has often times gone through chaos and disorder. It's what prompted McClatchy to launch the Influencer series in four of its major markets: California, Florida, Missouri and the Carolinas.

Kristin Roberts, regional editor of the McClatchy's East region, is in charge of leading the series in all four markets. As regional editor, she discovered that having reporters just cover polls during the elections was a bad decision and it didn't help readers.

"We didn't satisfy the consumer's desire to understand policies affecting their communities and where candidates stood on those policies," she said. "Readers want us to force conversation about policy, not personality."

Now, she considers the Influencer series the start of changing the way newsrooms should approach covering politics.

Anyone thinking people don't care about the printed newspaper these days should talk with T&D Circulation Director Barbara West-Ravenell.

When mechanical problems delayed the The Times and Democrat's press run on Sunday night (Sept. 2) and into the day on Monday, the result was subscribers not receiving their newspaper on schedule on Labor Day morning. Never mind that it was a holiday -- or maybe in part because of it -- people were not happy. They expect the newspaper to be there and be there on schedule.